A translation of the Shahadah is "there is no God but Allah and Mohammed is his messenger".

Image copyrightPAImage caption
The Saudi Arabia flag includes the Shahadah - the Muslim profession of faith - in white writing on a green background

The flags of other Islamic nations in the World Cup - including Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco and Iran - are not affected.

A spokesman for the pub chain said: "To celebrate the World Cup, we have been displaying the flags of the participating nations to promote what we hope will be a great tournament for all.

"Following feedback from some customers in London about displaying the Saudi Arabia flag in a pub, we understand it was inappropriate as it contains the religiously-significant Islam Shahadah in Arabic and so we have removed it."